“Today we are thrilled to announce for the first time, that we are going into large-scale efficacy testing of the HIV vaccine in humans,” announced Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson.

“As a scientist and a physician, I can tell you that this vaccine holds the promise of groundbreaking development.”

“We all know that science is unpredictable,” Stoffels added. “But these results make me more optimistic than ever that we will get to a vaccine in our lifetime and prevent people from contracting HIV forever.”

Stoffels made the monumental announcement at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City over the weekend, alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Hugh Jackman.

Since 1981, HIV/AIDS has more than 36 million people across the world, while 2 million new people acquire the virus each year.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation added HIV prevention drug PrEP to its list of essential medicines.

PrEP – Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis – is an anti-HIV medication taken by people who are HIV negative to lower their risk of contracting the infection.

Although the drug can cost up to £400 per patient a month, because multiple studies across the world have shown the medication to be an effective way of reducing the risk of contracting HIV, it is widely deemed a cost-effective way of working towards eliminating the virus.

NHS England was due to launch their trials of the drug over the summer, but have yet to make it available.